Illawarra Fly Tree Top Walk - Southern Highlands, NSW, Australia

Tree ferns – ferns with a trunk, a bit like a tree

Tree ferns usually grow in forest, in moist locations where they won't dry out during summer. Gullies in forest are ideal locations. Two tree fern species can be seen from the Illawarra Fly, the Soft Tree Fern or (Dicksonia antarctica) and the Rough Tree Fern or (Cyathea australis). The name gives the game away.

A tree or a fern?

The lush and decorative fronds of the tree ferns seen below the Illawarra Fly reflect the cool, moist forest growing in this area. Tree ferns are common in some places, not just on the Illawarra Fly but elsewhere in the rainforests of the Illawarra district. Tree ferns need to be wet as they will wilt in dry, hot conditions and grow small fronds.